Ah you say this is the part where you can say see linux is not that good! Well while that truth of the matter is nope linux has games that you can run with more being ported to native linux daily, the truth is that the newest games are a pain to run under linux. However I hope to clear up some of the confusion caused by running windows games under linux.
First let me say that the state of gaming in linux is poor for two reasons, First and foremost the creators of the games has forgotten and forsaken the linux user for years now and are just now finding out that we linux users are also gamers. And the second is the lack of hardware support from the video card makers. Nvida has been good but until recently ATI was trailing the pack but is showing signs of coming around.

So for you to run games you have 3 options in order to run windows games in linux.

1. Wine
2. Crossover
3. Cedega

Yes one wine comes with every distro out there and while the work they have done is fantastic, I am sorry to say that wine is still behind the curve with the newest games however if you check on the homepage you will find what will work and to what degree. And yes there is a huge list however not everything is there.

The next two are the pay to play offerings. Crossover is more or less targeting the apps more than the games, but while they have some games listed the apps are still far ahead over in this camp.

Now comes Cedega, it has been since it’s inception a true gamers based emulator. And while I do not run it I have been told by many that is works just fine and they keep the selection of games up to date more than the other two options. And as with the other two options they are easy to install and get up and running for the dyed in the wool gamer.

So in closing all I can say is you have options to leave windows behind if you are willing to go out and dip you toes in the open source pond. I say go out and visit some the message boards and forums and sites that cater to the linux gamer and see what they have to say about the different choices and see what is going to work for you. Just remember the answers to your problems are only a click away. So why not give open source a look and see if it is not the cure for the problems that you have with your operating system now.

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